Missing
by iTumnusXinXNarnia
Summary: Ruby and Weiss are sent to find the scroll of a missing Huntsman and find out what happened to him. WhiteRose
1. Setting Out

_A/N: This is my first RWBY story. So the first chapter is short, just testing the waters and all. Enjoy! :)_

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 **Chapter One - Setting Out**

It seemed simple enough. Head out, get the scroll, return to Beacon. Even Weiss Schnee felt confident as she headed out with her partner, Ruby Rose, on one of their infrequent missions without the other members of team RWBY – Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long. They didn't even bring Zwei along.

But now, as night crept overhead and the two huddled in their small camp in Forever Fall, Weiss felt a tad uncertain. She couldn't help thinking about the missing Huntsman, who had been in contact with the Professors at Beacon when he dropped his scroll in the middle of battle. What became of him, the professors hoped to get to the bottom of it.

Ruby nudged the food over the fire, the light of it crackling in her silver eyes. She was strangely quiet, and Weiss knew that Ruby too was thinking of the Huntsman.

"What do you think happened to him?" Weiss asked, saying what they were both thinking aloud. There were a few ideas, but Ruby just shrugged.

"Hopefully nothing, and he just dropped his scroll," she replied, giving the food one more store and saying to Weiss, "Food's ready!". Weiss gratefully accepted a helping and the two ate in silence for a few minutes, glad for the distraction.

Their weapons sat in arms reach of the two. There was no sight or sound of any Grimm nearby, so the two remained cautious but not worried of a potential fight. They had each other, after all, to take down the awful monsters, though both hoped tonight would be free of a fight.

Smacking her lips loudly, Ruby discarded her empty plate on the ground nearby and took up Crescent Rose in her hands, giving Weiss a bright grin. "I'll take the first watch!" she declared, stroking Crescent Rose fondly. Weiss just shook her head, smiling a bit.

"Ok, your call," she agreed, finishing her dinner and putting her plate on top of Ruby's. Yawning, Weiss stretched out on her sleeping bag, putting her hands behind her head as she gazed up at the dark red foliage of the trees. Forever Fall really was beautiful, even at night. It wasn't a bad place to make the first night of camp.

Ruby stood, dusting leaves and crumbs off her skirt and went to lean against one of the trees, squinting into the darkness. Luckily, no eyes blinked back at her and no growls sound out of the darkness, so she kept Crescent Rose holstered. It would take but a second to have her out. She glanced toward Weiss, who was snuggling under her sleeping bag with a contented sigh.

"We'll make good ground tomorrow if no Grimm attack," Weiss yawned matter-of-factly, opening her eyes to see Ruby staring at her. "What?" she almost snapped but caught herself just in time. Ruby was just looking, there was no harm in that…. Yet Weiss felt her cheeks and hands heat up just a bit. She broke the gaze.

Ruby looked down at Crescent Rose, running her hand over her weapon again. It was almost calming, and Ruby couldn't help wanting just a little bit for a good old fashioned Beowolf to appear so she could launch into battle. She looked up at the leaves in the overhanging foliage and closed her eyes. _Tomorrow_ , she thought nodding once. _There will be plenty of time for battle tomorrow._

Weiss, meanwhile, had rolled over in her sleeping bag, getting comfortable. She was fully aware of her back to Ruby, but she was also facing away from the fire so Weiss didn't have a light shining in her eyes. Her cheeks still burned from Ruby's gaze, and Weiss took a slow, deep breath, so as to not arouse suspicion from Ruby but to also calm herself down.

It had been like that a lot lately. Weiss would catch Ruby staring at her, and she would look away first, too afraid to say anything. Ruby never did. It was probably nothing. Weiss pursed her lip. That's right… It had to be nothing.

Yawning again, Weiss settled down, closing her eyes. "Night Ruby," she called out, now feeling exhausted, and it didn't take her long to fall into a light sleep.

Ruby stayed awake for six hours, keeping watch and tending to the fire. She also made sure her partner was alright. Weiss hardly stirred, and only moved once to scratch her temple. Ruby held her breath, waiting to see if Weiss woke up, but the renowned Ice Queen just fell into an even deeper sleep.

Sitting against the tree, Ruby checked her scroll to see what time it was. About an hour before she had to wake up Weiss and swap the watch. Ruby sighed, checking around the darkness once again before turning the sound all the way down on her scroll, opening up a game. She saw Yang was online, which came as no surprise – Blake had been spending many late nights in the library recently and Yang kept her company, though she always ended up getting bored and playing a game.

Ruby invited her to a game and played for the rest of her watch, making sure to look up every now and then to look around. When an hour had passed, Ruby stifled a much needed yawn and closed her scroll, tiptoeing over to Weiss and giving her a shake.

"Huh… what…" Weiss mumbled, rolling onto her back and rubbing her eyes. "Ah… my watch already?" Ruby was about to reply when she was overcome with another yawn she couldn't hide, and Weiss smiled.

"Ok, Ruby, you sleep. I got this one until dawn," Weiss said, slipping out of the sleeping bag and picking up Myternaster, her rapier. Petals scattered slightly as Ruby hurried into the sleeping bag, Crescent Rose in there with her. She barely heard Weiss, who couldn't help giving a small laugh, as she yawned and made herself more comfortable.

Ruby was already snoring when Weiss knelt beside her, wondering how Ruby could fall asleep so quickly when they were out on a mission like this. Weiss glanced up into the darkness beyond the light of their fire, thankfully seeing no eyes blinking back at her. She looked back at Ruby.

"Goodnight, Ruby," she said again and, gripping the hilt of her weapon, stood to sit against the tree for her watch.


	2. Sudden Storm

**Chapter Two – Sudden Storm**

The sun had risen high into the sky as Ruby and Weiss continued their journey, picking their way through Forever Fall without having seen any Grimm all morning. While it was a bit odd, the two were in high spirits, so Grimm weren't about to sense them and flock all over them. Ruby was skipping along, swinging her scythe in circles as she went, while Weiss walked at a brisk pace beside her, easily keeping up.

Sunlight filtered through the red leaves, appearing golden here and there, and huge boulders occasionally dotted the scenery. The two expertly made their way around them, jumping down into clearings and ducking under low-hanging branches. They had chattered for the first few hours but now continued on in silence, each lost in her own thoughts.

Weiss jumped out of her thoughts, however, when she heard Ruby excitedly whisper, "Beowolf!" and rush off, leaving Weiss in a trail of rose petals. Waving the petals away, Weiss saw the Grimm about a hundred feet in front of them, but one was cut down almost immediately by Ruby, who declared, "Yes!"

"Ruby!" Weiss called out, half in exasperation and half in surprise, quickly loading up some dust in her weapon and hurrying over. She kept her posture in good firm and held her weapon firmly and securely in her hand. Whilst Ruby excitedly continued to attack two different Beowolves, Weiss aimed for another two, and soon the two were engaged in a heated battle.

There weren't that many Grimm, but they were tough. Weiss ignored a trickle of sweat down her temple as she attacked another Beowolf, as she did, felt a splash on her head. She faltered, glancing up at the sky as it began to rain big, fat raindrops. Her falter cost her; Weiss felt pain in her side as she was hit, and she was thrown into a tree.

"WEISS!" Ruby cried as Weiss crumpled to the forest floor, and she wasted no time in taking care of the rest of their enemies. It was starting rain harder, splattering against the leaves of the trees, and there was a deep rumble of thunder off in the distance.

Ruby slipped in the mud, almost falling, but she regained herself and destroyed the last Beowolf with a yell. She turned to Weiss, who was struggling to sit up, and rushed to her, putting away Crescent Rose. Ruby knelt in front of Weiss. "Weiss! Weiss! Are you alright?" She helped her partner to stand up.

Breathing harshly, Weiss nodded. "Yeah. Just winded. I'll be ok," she assured Ruby, nodding to her weapon. "Can you pick up Myternaster?"

Ruby rushed to pick up Weiss' weapon as Weiss leaned against the tree, still catching her breath. The rain began to come down harder, the sky darkened, and lightning flashed. Against both their better judgement, Ruby and Weiss screamed. Ruby hurried back to Weiss. "Come on," she huffed, not even giving Weiss a chance to protest as she boosted her up onto her back. "We need to get out of this rain!"

Weiss clutched Myternaster tightly as Ruby ran between the trees, being careful not to hit any of the trees. The feeling of being winded left Weiss as Ruby ran toward some cliffs, and through the trees ahead Weiss saw a cave.

"THERE!" she shouted, pointing with her weapon, and Ruby entered the cave, letting Weiss down now that Weiss had fully recovered herself. They stood in the mouth of the cave together, looking out at the pounding rain. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, and Weiss sighed.

"We can't continue on in this storm," she pointed out almost unnecessarily, and Ruby nodded her agreement. Weiss turned to peer into the cave. It was gloomy and a little dim, but they could both still see. Sticks, dirt and leaves littered the mouth of the cave, and Weiss began picking up some of the sticks to start a fire.

This was frustrating. They _needed_ to get this mission and head back to Beacon. Blake and Yang wouldn't worry about them, since they were more than capable, but Yang would definitely wonder about Ruby. And now a freak storm prevented them from pressing forward.

Ruby was still looking out into the forest. "That storm hit so fast, it was so sunny like ten minutes ago!" she complained, tugging slightly at the hem of her skirt. "We really need to keep going." She turned to Weiss and frowned. "Weiss… what are you doing?"

Weiss had put the sticks and some of the leaves in a small pile a few feet into the cave and was trying to use fire dust to light the pile. "We just need to wait until the lightning and thunder let up. Then we can keep going," she said sensibly, successfully lighting the fire. "It's better to keep our heads warm!"

She gestured for Ruby to join her, carefully setting Myrtenaster on the dusty ground. Ruby hesitated, but she knew Weiss was right. She moved to sit next to Weiss, putting Crescent Rose next to her. To Ruby's surprise, Weiss rested her head on Ruby's shoulder, closing her eyes.

Ruby tried to calm her harshly beating heart, gazing into the fire. She tried to forget that Weiss was even there but it was hard. An odd feeling was spreading through her, one that she always got whenever Weiss was too close. It had been that way when Ruby was at Signal and she liked one of her friends, but surely…

"I reckon we'll get there by tomorrow," Weiss mumbled, half-opening her eyes to look at the fire. "We got this. It's so simple." She lifted her head to smile at Ruby for a moment, then rested her head again. Ruby had barely let out a little "Heh," when Weiss sighed. She sounded tired again. Ruby had a feeling that blow Weiss took had really drained her.

"Weiss… maybe we should just stay in here tonight," Ruby suggested, looking back out at the storm. "Who knows when this storm will let up, and at least it's safe and dry in here!" Weiss didn't say anything. Hesitantly, Ruby reached out and took Weiss' hand in her own. "You can sleep first again. But we should probably check out the rest of this cave and make sure there's no Grimm."

Finally, Weiss made a sound. She laughed.

"That's oddly reasonable of you, Ruby," she said, lifting her head. "But a good suggestion. Let's go." She picked up Myternaster then stood, dragging Ruby to her feet. Ruby lit a small branch and the two headed deeper into the cave.

Ruby was glad it was dark. Weiss wouldn't be able to see her blushing at how Weiss still held onto Ruby's hand.


End file.
